Category Archives: Cloud Servers
How Ather Energy is leveraging the Cloud to build and scale smart mobility solutions for India – YourStory
In 2013, long before the world was discussing clean energy and sustainable practices, two IIT Madras graduates Swapnil Jain and Tarun Mehta had an idea to develop Indias first-ever electrical scooter. This was at a time when auto manufacturers were still focusing on fossil-fuel-driven vehicles and eco-friendly mobility solutions were more a trendy alternative catering to a niche market.
The duo founded Ather Energy in 2013 and launched their first fully-electric scooter, the Ather S340, in Bengaluru in 2016. Since then, the company has released several new models into the market and is planning to expand to eight more cities by the end of the year. To support the smooth running of their vehicles, Ather has set up a network of charging stations across every city they have launched in.
The setup of the charging infrastructure precedes the launch of the vehicle in a city by a couple of months. This means there are stations where you can charge your vehicle in about an hour, and not worry about them powering down. The target is that at no point should you be more than four kilometres away from a charging station, says Swapnil in conversation with YourStory.
Speaking about the infrastructure that allows Ather Energy to work seamlessly in a business that operates both online and offline, Swapnil says that they are actually playing on three infrastructures the manufacture of the vehicle, the installation of the charging stations with supply lines, and the data world.
Data was key right from the beginning for the team at Ather. Both Swapnil and Tarun knew that the next waves in the industry would be electric and connected. This meant that they were heavily reliant on data and connectivity to provide a better experience for the customers in the form of direct features, servicing, remote diagnostics, and a charging infrastructure solution.
The founding team at Ather Energy says that Google Cloud was their choice from day one to ensure that everything ran seamlessly. We never thought about doing infrastructure on-premise, says Swapnil.
The Cloud is at the backend, making all of this happen. In today's world, it does not make sense to actually set up your own infrastructure. We are already dabbling with so many different aspects of technology, and handling infrastructure just makes things more complicated. This gives us a lot more flexibility. You can quickly set up a server, or you can shut it down. We don't have to worry about buying any lead time, and things happen on the fly. We can focus on actually building the vehicle and the applications around it, he adds.
Swapnil says that the decision to adopt the Cloud from Day 1 cut down their development time by at least two years, and the investment needed for the talent to build infrastructure. We would have needed 25 engineers to build the infrastructure. This way, we were able to focus on creating value while cutting on costs, both of which are crucial for a startup.
The team went through two rounds of iteration. The first round of iterations was completely on our own. At that point, our team was too small to engage with the community. But in the second round, we engaged the Google team who started taking a lot of interest in what we were doing; they started extending a lot of technical support, and looking at how they could actually take the journey with us, says Swapnil.
The Google team started looking at the companys architecture and whether it was using the right solutions.
With heavy reliance on data to ensure that everything runs smoothly, managing the vast torrents of information generated every day is crucial. The team uses the data generated for improving customer experience and for diagnostics and servicing. For the former, it collects data such as riding patterns, geographical terrain, how the vehicle is being maintained, etc. to provide feedback. In terms of diagnostics, it looks for anomalies.
We have about 40-45 sensors on the vehicle itself, gathering data such as battery temperature, voltage, accelerometer, gyroscope, GPS, etc. We look at all this data and check for anomalies. This helps us offer a better customer experience from a features and reliability perspective, he says.
Swapnil says that the right technology partner is central to having things run efficiently. If digital technologies are not your primary area of expertise, you need a partner who is committed to making the journey with you and supporting you in the long-term. If you have good technical architecture, costs can be controlled. If your system design is bad, you end up incurring a lot more costs. So, enhanced technical support is quite crucial and critical.
Speaking about how the solutions were customised to Ather Energys unique requirements, he says that the process with a partner has to be iterative.
Working with the right technical partner has had a significant impact on Ather Energys growth.
While running costs are down by 60 percent, data queries take a mere five minutes to resolve (previously took a full day) and most importantly time-to-market came down by a staggering two years.
Going forward, Ather Energy plans to leverage the Cloud for scalability as they expand operations across the country; increase reliability; and data security, which has become crucial in the current scenario, with teams working remotely.
It's quite complex to do data security in a mechanical and electronic environment because the infrastructure does not really support it. So, we are exploring virtual desktops and how we can create a more secure network.
The outbreak has also resulted in a mind-shift in how the company works. As a manufacturing company, remote work was not a viable option. I think we have been able to break out of that sort of thought process. Because of COVID-19, we have been able to accelerate a lot of remote working. All our design work is continuing remotely and most of our people are still working from home. They're able to collaborate a lot more effectively than we thought possible. We have definitely fast-forwarded our digital transformation journey, he says.
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How Ather Energy is leveraging the Cloud to build and scale smart mobility solutions for India - YourStory
Nextcloud, the open source platform that allows you to install and configure your own personal cloud on a web server – Explica
Services like Google Drive, OneDrive or Dropbox are becoming increasingly popular: they not only allow us to safeguard our filesIts out of our devices, but keep these in sync with each other; and, in addition, they incorporate extra functionalities (such as document editing).
But none of these platforms provides us with a personal cloud in the strict sense of the term: we we hardly have the ability to customize the settings of them, and that not to mention the control that we can exercise of the stored data.
But there are alternatives that do allow us to take complete control of our personal cloudlike ownCloud and Nextcloud.
Just as when we create a website we can choose solutions managed by third parties (such as WordPress.com) or self-managed solutions (such as WordPress.org), the two aforementioned platforms give us the option to install on the web server that we prefer (even on an intranet).
In 2016, six years after ownCloud was born (within the KDE community, although it later became independent of it), most of its developers (including the creator of the project, Frank Karlitschek) promoted a fork of said project: that was Nextclouds kick-off.
Nextcloud is an open source cloud platform that allows you to host data and files between different devices (also mobile) and users. If we had to compare it with proprietary platforms, we would say that it is not only equivalent to Google Drive: it also assumes the functions of Google Calendar and Google Photos.
And thats not to mention the large number of complementary applications, cataloged in their own Nextcloud App Store, which allow us to add all kinds of extra functions to Nextcloud and use it as a substitute for many of the online services that we use on a daily basis.
Thus, its ecosystem of applications includes blogs, maps, music players / organizers, webmail, SMS synchronizers, Google Docs office suites, Markdown text editors, video chats, task managers, notes or passwords, RSS readers .
A sample of the applications that we can add to Nextcloud.
But, what do we need to run our own cloud on Nextcloud? Fundamentally, a domain name and a virtual server (such as an AWS service or a VPS server any web hosting does not work) in which to host and run the platform; the first can get us for one euros a year (depending on the chosen extension, of course) and the second for 5 euros a month.
We will also need, of course, basic knowledge of Linux administration, since we will have to connect by SSH from our team to install and configure Nextcloud (and the firewall and the web server) in the Linux of the remote server; Fortunately, there are countless guides and video tutorials that will help you complete the process.
Nextcloud desktop client syncing files.
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Nextcloud, the open source platform that allows you to install and configure your own personal cloud on a web server - Explica
The Chinese Government is Accessing YOUR Network Through the Backdoor and There Still is NO Place to Hide – China Law Blog
The Chinese government and its state controlled banks have worked hard over the last decade to digitize financial reporting and procedures. These days, a business operating in China virtually never needs to visit a Chinese government agency office or a bank. Transactions and reporting are done online.
For normal daily operations, this means all of the following are done through the Internet:
If you try to do this kind of work through the old fashioned method of personal visits to the various Chinese government offices, you will be turned away.
All this appears to be modern and efficient. But this extensive use of the Internet conceals a hidden danger. In all these transactions, Chinese government agencies and the banks require the business make use of software provided by the agency or the bank. No independent software is allowed. This software is usually a package that includes connection software and anti-virus protection. In my experience, these packages are poorly written, buggy, slow and difficult to use. When installed on many businesses central computer, they slow operations to the point of being unusable.
But the real issue runs deeper. As I have discussed in earlier posts, the goal of the Chinese government is to make information networks in China closed to outsiders but completely open to the Chinese government. See Chinas New Cybersecurity Program: NO Place to Hide and Chinas New Cybersecurity System: There is NO Place to Hide. As I said in both of these posts,there is no place to hide. Once on the Internet, the information will be accessed by the Chinese government. To state the matter more clearly, the Chinese government has become the most active information hacker in China. So when a business installs the required software on its systems, this software is being provided by a hacker. The risks are obvious. In response to these two posts, many of suggested we not be so negative about this hacking because some of us still need to do business in China, but nobody has questioned our conclusion regarding the risks.
The reality of the risk has recently been exposed by Trustwave, a U.S. based cybersecurity consultant, in its report on a case where malware was included in software required by a Chinese bank for payment of taxes. See The Golden Tax Department and the Emergence of GoldenSpy Malware, subtitled, Trustwave SpiderLabs has discovered a new malware family, dubbed GoldenSpy, embedded in tax payment software a Chinese bank requires corporations to install to conduct business operations in China. The basic story is typical of China. The bank requires installation of its mandated software created by a private big data Chinese company working under contract with the Chinese national tax department. In other words, the mandate requiring the use of this spyware comes straight from Chinas national government in Beijing.
The software contains a backdoor that takes two actions. First, all data submitted to the bank and all other data on the host computer is transmitted to a server owned by a private Chinese company connected with Chinas national tax department. This server is housed on the AliBaba cloud. Second, the software allows the operator of the backdoor complete access to the entire host computer system. Trustwave provides standard advice on best practices for dealing with this type of infection. Their advice to remove the software is, however, simply not practical, since companies are required to use this spyware to do business in China. Their alternative is to install the software on a dedicated laptop that is fully insulated from the main company computer system. This approach prevents infection of the main company network system. However, it does not prevent the private data transmitted to the local tax authority from being transmitted to the malware server to be used for undisclosed purposes. It also is not clear how the Chinese government will treat a foreign company that isolates its exposed data to a sole, non-networked computer.
So now we know why all this Chinese government mandated software works so badly. The software is so filled with malware, backdoors and surveillance protocols that normal operation is slowed to the point of making many systems unusable. Those of us who work in China have always assumed this and now the Trustware report provides a concrete example.
The larger issue is that this forced installation of backdoor malware is a constant issue in China. It is not just the case of one piece of software from one bank. As this case shows, the national government works with government controlled banks, local governments, private software/big data companies and Chinese based cloud service providers to implement a system that allows total access to all information available on the networks located in China.
It might be possible to implement protections against one single piece of malware, as Trustware advises. But as a practical matter, it is impossible to implement protection against the constant and pervasive measures the Chinese government takes to access private company data. There are too many points of access. For example, government mandated inspection of company networks allows for installation of similar backdoor malware as part of the inspection process.
The issue is not simply the compromise of the China based system of foreign investors. Once the China system is compromised, the hacker (Chinese government) can almost always then gain access to the entire international network linked to the hacked system. The infection spreads from China around the world. Informatization, big data and full spectrum dominance is the Chinese governments highest priority. If you operate within Chinas borders, there is no place to hide. This has important implications for companies operating in China and this reality must be carefully assessed.
Scientific Thinking: Processes, methods, and approaches with reference to Deep Tech – Web Hosting | Cloud Computing | Datacenter | Domain News – Daily…
One of the key drivers of economic growth nowadays is innovation, and it involves substantial investment in research and development (R&D). While general tech companies have made a global impact in improving the quality of life, deep tech startups are redefining the concept of innovation and are dubbed the next wave of global disruptors.
Deep tech startups are based on advanced scientific advances and high-tech engineering innovations. They have attracted unprecedented traction across all sectors and their impact is being felt everywhere.
From blockchain to advanced Artificial Intelligence (AI) to advances in biotech and medicine (picture cancer-detecting devices and fake drug detectors), this tech has the potential to solve global pressing issues and change lives, for the better.
However, building a startup that thrives on deep tech requires a different playbook due to the nascent and complex nature of these technologies. In this post, well discuss the steps and scientific processes involved in establishing and commercializing deep tech startups.
Akin to the ideation stage in general tech startups, the discovery stage is what lays the foundation and basis for deep tech.
Discovery is all about identifying a need that cannot be solved by the existing technology. For example, a cancer research scientist might discover that a certain type of cancer cannot be treated with chemotherapy and conceptualize new ideas about tech that could solve the problem.
The discovery phase is an important part of the design thinking process and it aims to generate, develop, actualize, and communicate ideas. As fun as this stage may sound, its not without challenges.
For instance, the idea might be rejected on the basis of novelty. At times, cognitive bias might kick in, causing other parties to reject the idea even without further consultation. To overcome this, its great to stay clear of the goals and objectives of the tech in mind and take into account every variable that might affect the introduction of such technologies.
But the discovery process isnt exclusive to deep tech startups. Many processes that require prior planning, such as the SQL server blocking, also starts with the discovery phase. In this context, discovery entails gaining an in-depth understanding of your data systems to build a migration plan. Likewise, discovery in deep tech startups entails identifying the key pain points and gathering market intelligence that will help to support your idea.
Advocacy and screening help to weigh the ideas potential benefits and challenges. These two processes take place simultaneously and help to squash ideas that lack potential, which is easier than having them rejected by stakeholders solely on the basis of their novelty.
This phase is very important when assessing the potential of deep tech startups for two reasons:
Deep tech startups require a significant amount of capital to develop and scale. A recent Hello Tomorrow survey published by BCG revealed that developing the first prototype in biotech on average costs around $1.3 million. While deep tech has far-reaching potential, many startups seek funding in the early research phaselong before the prototype is unveiled to customers, leaving investors with no KPIs with which they can evaluate the products market potential.
Additionally, deep tech lacks third-party standardization, which again makes it hard for investors to assess the risks or potential returns, since there are no comparable products in the market.
However, screening helps to ease the investors burden in many ways. Researchers in the Innovation: Management, Policy, and Practice study identified refinement as the core advantage of advocacy & screening. If the idea has potential, advocacy and screening can help to refine and enhance it, making it more attractive and understandable to investors.
Sometimes, researchers are stymied when approached by potential investors because theyre unclear about the growth potential of their projects. Advocacy and screening help to map out the projects future prospects and all the needs that will be addressed.
The R&D phase is what distinguishes deep tech startups from general tech companies.
This stage encompasses experimentation and testing and lots of money is spent on design and engineering. The amount of time dedicated to R&D varies from company to company though its significantly longer than the time needed to develop an innovation based on existing technology.
According to data from the deep tech startups surveyed by Hello Tomorrow, it takes 4 years to develop a technology in biotech. Some advanced technologies can take longer, to the tune of 50 years. For instance, it took decades to develop the underlying technology behind AI.
During research and development, multiple experiments are done to determine the products feasibility. At times, the development phase can lead to new ideas as more information is gathered, and many elements tested.
The development phase has changed dramatically over the years due to the advancement of technology which has led to the introduction of robust design and prototyping tools. For example, 3D printing and computer-aided design tools have revolutionized prototyping, making it an easy and straightforward process.
At the end of the R&D phase, comes commercialization, which is the process of bringing high-tech innovations to the market. Commercialization is not a straightforward process and can be broken down into several phases, which include:
As you move through each phase, youll receive customer feedback and may need to refine or improve the product to meet the customer needs.
However, the commercialization process is marred by many challenges. Besides funding and lack of third-party standardization, commercialization of deep tech faces many challenges some of which may hamper its widespread adoption
For instance, since the tech is new to the market, commercialization is often hampered by lack of matching business infrastructure and human talents. It can be difficult to educate the partners and even the public when you dont have the right resources.
Moreover, humans by nature resist change, and it can be hard for people to embrace what they dont understand. This explains why training is critical to the success of the commercialization phase and it can also be stymied by lack of skilled personnel.
In addition to marketing challenges, industrial and cultural barriers may also thwart commercialization of deep tech. If the tech results in environmental pollution or violates certain religious or cultural beliefs, it may be antagonized by the public.
Read Next: Voice and visual expansions are internets next step in search tech
5 Best VPNs to consider in 2020 – Techiexpert.com – TechiExpert.com
Virtual private networks are quite relevant today. We have seen how lapses in security lead to major financial implications. No one wants their data to be in the hand of a hacker or spammer. These people exploit personal information to exploit the victim financially. This is the reason why we should take our internet security and online presence seriously.
A VPN fills in space by adding a layer of security. Many people are reluctant to invest in a virtual private network. The reason is plain simple. They dont understand the threat they are exposed to. However, installing a VPN will just make your data protected and will save you the inconvenience of tomorrow. Now is the right time to get a VPN and protect your data and information online.
There is no hard science behind how VPN protects you online. It just funnels your data and browsing through a private and secure server. This simple step makes you anonymous. It will keep the data encrypted so that hackers or spammers cannot access it. In addition to this, it also secures your form the government, and your ISP. With a VPN, you will be the only person to access the data.
The encryption is end-to-end making it hard for anyone to crack at any level of expertise. Business organizations must have a VPN. It does not matter what is the scale of your organization. You can just get the one that suits the best monetarily. There are plenty of great options available.
Based on online threats, many providers are taking this thing seriously. For example, if you get Spectrum bundle deals, your data and information will be secured. Cox takes the privacy and security of customers quite seriously, making them trusted and reliable among masses.
There are two different types of VPN. The one is for the business and the other is for consumers. The business VPNs are meant to protect the entire network of a company not just selected individuals. Sometimes, they do have a dedicated IP address from the server. The central software controls everything and the managers can monitor everything from their desks.
Here are the best VPNs in 2020.
NordVPN is a top VPN known for security. It has a separate version for business. The VPN comes with double encryption that means your data is secure. Double encryption achieves wonders. Even if someone gets access to your data, they will not able to do anything. The data will be hard to decipher. Secondly, the VPN has a kill switch for instances like a connection drop.
Unlike most of the other VPNs, NordVPN has a strict no-log policy. The VPN server does not steal any information or data. You get a dedicated VPN server if you get the business version.
Now, the important thing here is the price. It is quite affordable and does not require hefty spending.
If your business involves frequent traveling nationally or internationally, this is the right choice for you. You can use it in any region and access all the legal content. The subscription can be transferred from one device to the other. The managers get access to the application where they can monitor everything. Like most of the VPNs, there are no strict logs. You can have a private connection whenever needed. All the information, data, and online activities are secure. No one can access them. On top of all the benefits and surprises, you get a money-back guarantee. This is different than the one others get you. You have 45 days to claim a refund. In case you have any problem with the connection or app, you can talk to the 24/7 live chat support.
Perimeter 81 is more suited for small or medium-sized enterprises. It requires a minimum of five members for installation. It is not available for sole traders. Business VPNs are quite important these days as hackers pose a constant threat to online security. This VPN has a cloud-based system. You can customize and scale it to fit the requirements of your business. Everything is possible with the help of a dedicated client that has access to manage the settings of your network. Since everyone has a different operating system, therefore, Perimeter works with Linux, Chromebook, Windows, iOS, macOS, and Android. The VPN has two-factor encryption. We are currently facing a dreadful pandemic and most of the companies are letting their employees work from home. Therefore, working from home requires online protection as well. Perimeter 81 is the best choice for that.
Encrypt.me is another great VPN that has one of the most reliable device support in the market. Good thing is that you dont need a minimum number of users to get this VPN. There are no fixed caps on the number of connections that can be developed. This means all your home or business devices are secured. It works best for Windows, iOS, Android, macOS, and Amazon. It is super easy to set up on any device. You can filter the content that can be accessed on your network. This makes it an ideal choice for parents with kids at home.
The online security threats are real and installing a VPN can counter these threats no matter where you are connected to the internet.
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5 Best VPNs to consider in 2020 - Techiexpert.com - TechiExpert.com
Huawei Rotating Chairman Highlights Practices and Prospects of 5G in Digital Transformation for Industries at GSMA Thrive – Al-Bawaba
During the recent virtual GSMA Thrive event hosted by GSMA, Huawei executives delivered keynote speeches, shedding light on how industries are leveraging 5G to embrace digital transformation in a faster and more efficient manner. The online event brought together industry leaders to discuss technologies like 5G, AI, IoT, and Digital Transformation and how they are influencing every part of our lives, society and businesses.
Huaweis Rotating Chairman Guo Ping delivered a speech titled "5G in a post-pandemic world: Countdown to the digital blastoff". In this speech, Ping discussed the social value of ICT in combating COVID-19, as well as the practices and prospects of applying 5G in digital transformation for industries.
"With the help of 5G, industries are going digital at a faster pace. Next, we will work with our partners on industry applications to help our customers unleash the potential of 5G, generating the first round of dividends from major 5G applications," Ping said.
He pointed out that during the pandemic, the social value of ICT applications developed based on 5G, AI, cloud, and big data has been greater than ever.
Ping confirmed that Huawei will continuously support open and collaborative standards and industry organizations in their efforts to safeguard a unified global communications industry. Global collaboration is critical to successfully beating the virus, no matter whether it is in the medical or communications sector.
He also expressed his belief that ICT is extending to every industry on a large scale, becoming a key enabler of social development and generating multiple waves of technology dividends for all industries.
In another keynote speech entitled "5G Brings Five Opportunities with New Value", Mr. Gan Bin, Chief Marketing Officer for Huaweis Wireless Network Solutions elaborated why 5G is the digital foundation of new infrastructure to upgrade connectivity, AI, cloud, computing, and industrial applications and inject new vitality into economic development.
"5G significantly improves the experience of connectivity, expanding 4G's people-centered connections with smartphones to a full range of scenarios that span not only smartphones, but also smart wearables and homes. This will add greater convenience to daily lives," Gan said.
5G eliminates data upload limitations, meaning that a massive amount of data can be transferred from hundreds of millions of devices to cloud servers to provide AI operations with tremendous data, which will greatly reduce the training period. It enables devices to make the best of the powerful computing in the cloud to relax requirements on local computing, reducing device costs. Furthermore, 5G enables the transfer of AI operation results to devices to greatly expand the availability of AI-based functionality.
Constrained by insufficient local capabilities, less than 2% of the nearly 40 ZB data generated in 2019 was saved. 5G stimulates the demand for huge storage worldwide, offering a new option to implement cloud storage to save the massive data.
Furthermore, limited by current technology, less than 10% of all data has been analyzed and applied so far. 5G stimulates the demand for enormous computing power, enabling devices to leverage powerful cloud computing capabilities anytime, anywhere.
"While 4G has changed lives, 5G is set to change society. 5G has proven an indispensable enabler for business digitalization and will greatly improve the operational efficiency across industries," Gan concluded.
For her part, Zhu Huimin, Director of Marketing Execution Dept of Huawei Wireless Network Product Line, delivered a keynote speech titled AI for 5G Network Automation Empowers the Intelligent 5G Era.
Zhu noted that one of the most significant driving forces for future mobile service innovation and development is the automated operations capability of mobile networks based on AI.
Compared with 4G networks, 5G networks feature a qualitative leap in key performance indicators (KPIs), such as transmission rate, transmission delay, and connection scale. Therefore, 5G networks can support more diverse service scenarios and applications;
Zhu remarked that the key to achieving upgrade from these two aspects lies in AI for 5G. AI-powered network automation capabilities can spawn higher O&M efficiency, better network performance, and more agile service provisioning for 5G networks.
Global operators, equipment vendors, and third-party vendors have currently started to explore the application of AI technologies to mobile networks.
Zhu said that the road to intelligent autonomous networks will most likely not be easy, and it requires continuous collaboration between all industry parties. Huawei therefore proposes the "1+3+N" industry strategy in the wireless field and hopes to collaborate with operators as well as industry partners to ensure the ecosystem prospers, and to enable the Intelligent 5G era.
She stated that openness is the key to incubating and enabling more innovative services, and scenario-based APIs need to be built to enable intent-based E2E intelligent autonomous networks.
"As the two most important technologies in modern human society, 5G and AI promote and collaborate with each other. The AI-based automated operations capability of mobile networks is one of the most significant driving forces for future mobile service innovation and development," commented Zhu.
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Huawei Rotating Chairman Highlights Practices and Prospects of 5G in Digital Transformation for Industries at GSMA Thrive - Al-Bawaba
AIOps and the evolution of IT infrastructure monitoring – IT Brief Australia
Article by LogicMonitor regional manager for APAC Harry Guy.
AIOps seems to be the latest in a rather long chain of IT acronyms and phrases. Like so many buzzwords in IT, AIOps encompasses so much territory that no singular definition of the term is universally accepted.
Artificial Intelligence (AI), at its core, applies advanced analysis and logic-based techniques to automate repetitive learning and discovery of pertinent data, in order to perform a multitude of tasks. Ultimately the high-level benefits of AI in the workplace are numerous, from gaining insight into data and helping to automate technology-based processes efficiently.
Modern organisations have experienced an influx of data in recent times, which they need to rationalise and cope with. However, this influx of data does not often come with a corresponding influx of technology and data science skills. As companies adapt to ongoing digital transformation, they will soon realise that they need more than just a dedicated IT team to view and manage the companys IT infrastructure.
Thats where AIOps comes in.
AIOps is the combination of AI with IT operations and can be used to systematise and automate much of the mundane work of IT operatives, freeing them up to do more innovative projects. However,even morevalue can be added by combining IT infrastructure monitoring with AIOps to maximise visibility into infrastructure performance, and to predict and detect IT issues before they escalate into emergencies.
IT infrastructure monitoring is a critical part of keeping companies up and running in the digital age. Monitoring tools provide unprecedented visibility into the full IT stack, including networks, cloud, servers and more.
This ability to look deeply into IT infrastructure functionality and gather data is of tremendous value to IT administration and management. AIOps can essentially enhance these abilities by applying historical data and a machine learning model to support a predictive and real-time IT infrastructure monitoring platform.
AIOps function within an IT infrastructure monitoring platform also supports end-users by creating efficiency and alleviating some of the workload of an IT operative.
There are times when IT issues trigger a range of alerts - not just at the point where the issue lies, but often downstream as well. By reducing alert storms with AIOps, you not only maintain amore effective organisation in the immediate sense, but also the flow-on effect of reducing alert fatigue where tasks pile up on one another, false alerts are so frequent that actual issues are left unmonitored, and the whole range of issues this can cause.
AIOps provides IT monitoring teams with the means to identify and isolate issues, perform root-cause analysis (RCA), and mitigate potential impacts on adjacent devices or software tools. There are many benefits to this capability, such as helping IT professionals efficiently triage clusters of issues, minimising unnecessary alerts to decongest process pipelines, and providing visibility into the IT infrastructure through topology mapping to represent either the physical or logical elements.
AIOps tools also support anomaly detection and allow engineers to focus on one single problem at a time by breaking down rigid systems and processes. IT engineers can set parameters around anything within the infrastructure pertaining to individual components to correct and track issues before they escalate.
Furthermore, AI tools help engineers map out a much broader understanding of their IT environment. Once an anomaly is surfaced, is there a subsequent spike in activity elsewhere in the infrastructure that coincides with this anomaly? Is a particular machine running hot only at certain times of the day, or is performance lagging when a certain amount of users open a particular application?
AIOps is about moving beyond simple creation and storage of data to truly understanding the data and making it work dynamically for the organisation.
The key function of AI is like peeling away the layers of an onion: there are always more layers beneath the surface. Just as one level of functionality is discovered, more surface.
AIOps will continue to evolve, and the industry is only a very short way down the evolutionary path. However, there is no denying that AIOps is already having a profound effect on IT infrastructure monitoring, and helping organisations to increase operational efficiency.
Today, the IT infrastructure, tomorrow the world!
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AIOps and the evolution of IT infrastructure monitoring - IT Brief Australia
360Quadrants Releases Top 10 Cloud Computing Software In 2020 edited by leading research firm – WhaTech Technology and Markets News
Cloud computing software helps service providers learn about new opportunities and areas where they lag behind their peers.
Cloud computing is the practice of sharing a remote server network that is hosted on the Internet to store, process, and manage data, instead of a local server or personal computer. It specifically refers to a common storage space that network devices can use to access data simultaneously.
Using cloud computing technology not only provides cost benefits but also makes applications accessible at any time and from any location to all devices on the network.
360Quadrants, the most granular comparison platform, has released a quadrant on Cloud Computing Software to help businesses make quicker and more informed decisions. 360Quadrants are generated post-analysis of companies (product portfolios and business strategy).
Quadrants will be updated every three months based on market and regional analyses and developments in the Cloud Computing Software market. 360Quadrants also lists the top 10 best Cloud Computing Software.
360Quadrants combines inputs from various industry experts, buyers, and vendors, and conducts extensive secondary research inclusive of annual reports, company press releases, investor presentations, white papers, and various directories and databases in order to rate the companies in every quadrant.
360Quadrants conducts in-depth SWOT analysis and accurately analyzes the companies considered for evaluation. This helps service providers learn about new opportunities and areas where they lag behind their peers.
It also helps clients choose the most appropriate vendor for their requirements.
Cloud Computing Software Quadrant Highlights
360Quadrants covers 10 companies evaluated in the Cloud Computing Software Market space, which will be categorized as Visionary Leaders, Innovators, Dynamic Differentiators, and Emerging Companies.
AWS, Microsoft, Google, and IBM have been identified as Visionary Leaders, as they have established product portfolios and a robust market presence & business strategy.
Till now, 360Quadrants has not rated any vendor as an Innovator for this quadrant. Innovators have focused product portfolios and innovative business strategies with which they are able to set new trends in the market.
Virtustream, Rackspace, CenturyLink, Fujitsu, and NTT Communications have been identified as Emerging Companies, as they have niche product offerings and decent business strategies that help them in having consistent growth.
Alibaba and Oracle have been recognized as Dynamic Differentiators, as they are largely dependent on their competitive R&D activities.
360Quadrants Scoring Methodology
The top companies in the Cloud Computing Software Quadrant market will be rated using the following methodology:
About 360Quadrants
360Quadrants is the largest marketplace looking to disrupt US $6.3 trillion of technology spends and is the only rating platform for vendors in the technology space. The platform provides users access to unbiased information that helps them make qualified business decisions.
The platform facilitates deeper insight using direct engagement with 650+ industry experts and analysts and allows buyers to discuss their requirements with 7500 vendors. Companies get to win ideal new customers, customize their quadrants, decide key parameters, and position themselves strategically in a niche space, to be consumed by giants and startups alike.
Experts get to grow their brand and increase their thought leadership. The platform targets the building of a social network that links industry experts with companies worldwide.
The platform has around 400 total buyers across various markets.
360Quadrants will also be launching quadrants in fields like Digital Transformation Software,Cloud Computing Software, Augmented Reality Solutions, and Access Control Software.
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How to Watch Netflix With NordVPN: Does it Work in 2020 ? – Cloudwards
If youre outside of your home country and want to catch up on your favorite Netflix show, you might have noticed that its not available. Although Netflix is available in more than 190 countries, each version is a little different, so they dont air the same shows. By using a VPN, you can connect to a server in another country and access Netflix content as if you are physically there.
For instance, if you want to watch Netflix U.S., but youre abroad, you can use a VPN to connect to a U.S. server and get access to the U.S. library. That also works if youre in a country with strict censorship and Netflix is banned entirely. NordVPN is one of our best VPN providers, so weve put together this guide to tell you how to watch Netflix with NordVPN.
Netflix is a hard nut to crack. It has some of the best VPN detectors in the world, and most VPN services get booted away instantly. We put NordVPN through its paces during testing for our NordVPN review, and its high on our list of the best VPN for Netflix picks due to it consistently breaking through Netflixs VPN ban.
Now that you know NordVPN will bypass the Netflix proxy error code: m7111-5059, the second part of being able to access other countries Netflix libraries is to connect to a server in the country you want.
As an example, if you want to watch Netflix U.S., youll need to have a U.S. IP address. NordVPN has more than 5,000 servers in 59 countries, meaning its capable of accessing a lot of different Netflix regions.
To unblock Netflix, all you need to do is sign up for NordVPN, download its app and connect to a server within the country where you want to access Netflix.
To get started, you first need to sign up for NordVPN by choosing one of its plans. Its best to opt for a longer subscription, though, as itll work out cheaper in the long run. Once youve chosen one, click continue to payment. From there, you need to enter an email address and choose a payment method.
After that, you need to download and install the NordVPN app for your device.
Once the NordVPN app has installed, launch it and sign in.
Now youll see the NordVPN app. If you click quick connect, youll be connected to a recommended server based on your current location. The problem, though, is that some of NordVPNs recommended servers are slow, so youre better off finding one manually.
You can choose a specific server by scrolling through the countries on the left, using the search bar at the top of that list, or by using NordVPNs interactive map.
When youve found a server you want to connect to, simply click it and NordVPN will connect to it. Once its finished connecting, itll say protected in green and show the server youre connected to.
Now you can access the Netflix library that you want and start binge-watching your favorite movies and shows. If you still cant connect to Netflix with NordVPN, repeat the steps above and try connecting to a different server.
With a VPN, you can watch Netflix shows and movies from different countries libraries. It also means that you can access your favorite shows when youre on vacation. Plus, if youre in a country where Netflix is banned completely, a VPN will help you bypass the restrictions. The problem with accessing Netflix, though, is that not all VPNs can get in.
For NordVPN, Netflix is a walk in the park. Its capable of gaining access easily, and it has a ton of servers to choose from, so its a great choice for any of the above circumstances. NordVPN also comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee, for peace of mind, as well as one of the best customer support teams weve seen.
You can read our piece on how to cancel NordVPN and get a refundif you decide you dont like it.
Have you used NordVPN to unblock Netflix? Tell us about your experience in the comment section. As always, thank you for reading.
If you want to use NordVPN to watch shows or movies from a different countrys Netflix library, all you need to do is connect to a server within that country. Follow the steps in the article to change servers.
Netflix isnt on a particular NordVPN server, and NordVPN doesnt have specific streaming servers, either. Any of NordVPNs servers are capable of accessing Netflix, but if you have an issue, simply switch servers and try again.
We dont recommend using a free VPN for Netflix for two reasons: the free VPN will most likely be unable to get into Netflix at all, and some free VPNs are often a bad choice in terms of security and privacy.
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How to Watch Netflix With NordVPN: Does it Work in 2020 ? - Cloudwards
Migrating SaaS to Cloud: How to do it without disruption – Techiexpert.com – TechiExpert.com
SaaS applications work nicely on local appliances (on-premises). However, if youre running your SaaS on legacy hardware, youre bound to run into a couple of challenges. And since youre keeping it to your on-premises infrastructure, you cant tap into the features or capabilities of cloud computing. Thats a big disadvantage. So, your go to solution? Migrate SaaS to cloud. Easier said than done though, isnt it?
In this blog post, I take a closer look at:
Yes, were keeping it brief by sticking it to the rule of three.
One of the most common reasons why organizations move their SaaS workloads to the cloud is legacy infrastructure limitations. These include challenges such as:
In order to ensure high availability for critical workloads, you have to resort to expensive setups such as replication-based twin cluster nodes, RAID configuration, etc.
Even with the expensive solutions, its relatively difficult to ensure high availability for important data. Mostly because of single point-of-failure. Twin clustered nodes are great but theyre expensive. And RAID isnt bad either but if you dont replace your hard drives in time, youll still end up losing your data.
In comparison, Cloud Service Providers (CSPs) deploy geo-replication and other similar services to make sure that even if a data center or region goes down, your data remains available.
By putting your data in the cloud, youre able to leverage the availability measures CSPs have put in place so that theyre in compliance with strict SLAs. And youre not paying any additional charges to benefit from them.
On-premises hardware is expensive and it continues to consume budget that could be otherwise redirected for core operations. OpEx for an in-house data center includes maintenance cost, power and cooling costs, and the cost of the space reserved for the hardware appliances; not to mention the salaries for dedicated IT staff.
On the other hand, if you decide to put your SaaS in the cloud, you can opt to build a completely hardware less environment. This is particularly good for businesses that dont have enough space or are looking to save OpEx so that they can focus on core operations.
Now that we know why most organizations migrate their SaaS applications to the cloud, lets see what kind of challenges they have to overcome to do so.
If the SaaS software is a part of your core operations, usually it is, then migration cannot be a disruptive process for you; because that spells downtime and downtime is bad for business.
That implies, youll have to find a way to migrate your SaaS applications without disruption (solutions suggested below see three ways to migrate your SaaS to the cloud).
When migrating any workloads, SaaS applications or VMs, its a challenge to ensure synchronization. Youd want your applications and staff to continue as though nothing happened or simply start off the next day from where they left off.
However, its not easy to do that when migrating from your production environment to cloud-based servers. Secondly, its also important to do regular integrity checks.
Integrity checks simply mean that you have to make sure that the data has not been corrupted during the transfer (migration) and is available for use without any problems.
Depending on the way its done, SaaS migration can be very expensive. And cost considerations are a critical part of any business decision. Verily, moving core SaaS software from on-premises production environment to the cloud is a business decision. Therefore, the consequent cost has to be weighed in.
Best practice is to look for vendors that offer turnkey solutions instead of a component or a couple of components for the migration process.
If IT is not the core of your organization, then its ideal to look for vendors who are also offering professional services along with their solution to help with the setup and guide your onsite IT staff so that they can use the software effectively.
We have journeyed across the reasons why you might want to migrate your SaaS application to the cloud and the consequent challenges youll have to overcome. Now, lets discuss the three ways you can migrate your SaaS application to desired clouds.
If youre running your SaaS application on VMware, then a good option is the vMotion plugin. It automates VM migration and simplifies migration from one VMware environment to another VMware environment.
If youre running your SaaS application on an OS installed on a enterprise NAS storage, then things can be comparatively trickier. However, there are software available to help with server migration too. A good example would be Azure Migrate. It can simplify the migration process if youre looking to migrate your server to Microsoft Azure.
The challenge with these VM migration or server migration applications is that they lead to vendor lock-in. For example, vMotion, despite being quite expensive, will only work for VMware environments. Similarly, Azure migrate is only going to work if youre looking to migrate your servers to Azure.
Secondly, neither of these are turnkey solutions. They are components. In other words, your staff will have to do most of the heavy lifting.
Comparatively, its not a bad idea to look for third party service providers that offer complete data migration services from setup, to transfer, to switch over.
Note: This may or may not be a completely disruption free process. It depends on the chosen vendor. For instance, VMware vMotion promises a disruption free experience.
The second option are data transfer devices or DTDs.
You might be thinking, hey wait! How can that be a disruption free option?
That was true a little while ago but now there are services that leverage DTDs in combination with applications in a way that you dont feel any disruption at all.
For instance, StoneFly does that with their live VM migration DTDs (for VMware environments only).
How these DTDs work is a combination of replication-based synchronization. First, the major bulk of the data is offloaded to the DTDs, then the DTDs are shipped. The data is transferred to the target location and then the recently written data is synced over the wire. Finally, when everything is synced and ready, the system switches over and completes the migration process.
Note: Again, this option too depends on the chosen vendor. Its a good idea to clarify during the early stages that youre looking for a disruption-free process. If the vendor can deliver, they agree to it. If not, then you should look for vendors who can.
This solution is only suitable if you dont have a large bulk of data. For larger data, replication services become expensive, they overload the network, consume compute resources and bandwidth. In other words, everything comes to a grinding halt and this may even take days or weeks depending on the total volume you wish to migrate.
If you dont have a large chunk of virtual data to move, then this isnt a bad idea.
Replication, as the term implies, simply copies your data to the target site. Once the replication is completed, you can switch over and then stop the replication process.
It sounds simple and it is, as long as you choose the right vendor and application for the job.
Theres a good chance that the reason why youre looking to migrate your SaaS application to the cloud is to:
Here are the challenges youll have to overcome to do that:
Here are three effective ways to do it:
Which do you think is the best way to migrate your SaaS application to the cloud? Comment down below and share your expertise.
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Migrating SaaS to Cloud: How to do it without disruption - Techiexpert.com - TechiExpert.com